if it is not extended because of the fiscal cliff, debt relief will become taxable again and that will affect thousands and thousands of short sales and principal reduction loan modifications many under the big robo signing mortgage settlement. that settlement is why short sales have skyrocketed, surpassing foreclosure sales last june and keep on going. in nevada they made up 40% of october sales up from 34% a year ago. that according to lps home price index. now bank of america alone has done over 100,000 short sales so far this year. and i spoke to a rep there who says they are well aware of the potential looming tax risks as are their customers. they say they would love to ramp up short sales but they're already doing them as fast as they can. i ask what happens if the tax relief is not extended? the source told me i would expect we start to get more customers saying i've talked to my tax adviser and i'm going to opt out of that short sale and we'll just take it to foreclosure. and, carl, that is exactly not what we want to hear as this housing recovery is really just gaining steam.